ShawnKing
Well-known member
He at least saved me from a serious accident!
I was out riding on Tuesday. I had just finished Ken's *excellent* book, "Riding in the Zone" the night before and was looking forward to practicing some of the techniques he described.
One in particular that stuck in my mind was the idea of having a "Cornering Plan" - each corner we come to has a different method of travel through and, if you have a plan ahead of time, the corner becomes that much smoother. Another thing I was practicing is a bad habit I have - when I hit the apex of a turn, I'm often far too close to the centerline and sometimes my helmet/upper body is over it. It's never been an issue but I wanted to try and break the habit.
I was out on familiar roads, thinking about Ken's thoughts on approach, entry, apex and exit and make sure I had good lines into the turn. I was focusing on delaying my entry into a turn and making my imaginary apex point the center track and not the yellow center line as I have done in the past.
I come up on a fairly blind, left hand, decreasing radius turn - exactly the kind of turn I might be too close to the yellow line at apex in the past. I set up wide to the right, delay entry well past where I would normally have turned in and flicked the bike into the entry. Just like Ken teaches in the book, I've got a little throttle on to steady the bike, I'm looking through and leaning into the turn. This is fun!
Until I came around the blind turn and saw the guy on the bicycle in the other lane... He was fine - he was just a guy on a bike coming through the turn going the opposite way. But my brain told me there was going to be a problem very soon.
Sure enough, coming around the bicycle at the exact same time as I hit the turn's apex was an impatient cager who was not only passing the bicycle - he was doing it with *both* of his left side wheels well in *my* lane. He was so far over, the center yellow line was under his steering wheel.
Before Ken's book, I might have ended up as a smear on his windshield. I certainly would have panicked and maybe grabbed too much brake and headed off into the ditch.
But I firmly believe that, because I had a cornering plan, because I was thinking about the ride, because I was actively practicing technique - because I was in The Zone - the car slipped by me with no drama from me other than a softly muttered, "*****..." in my helmet.
I hadn't even let off the throttle....
I accelerated out of the turn and went on my merry way knowing I had dodged yet another bullet but also knowing that this time, I did it with grace and ease.
So - thank you Ken Condon!
I was out riding on Tuesday. I had just finished Ken's *excellent* book, "Riding in the Zone" the night before and was looking forward to practicing some of the techniques he described.
One in particular that stuck in my mind was the idea of having a "Cornering Plan" - each corner we come to has a different method of travel through and, if you have a plan ahead of time, the corner becomes that much smoother. Another thing I was practicing is a bad habit I have - when I hit the apex of a turn, I'm often far too close to the centerline and sometimes my helmet/upper body is over it. It's never been an issue but I wanted to try and break the habit.
I was out on familiar roads, thinking about Ken's thoughts on approach, entry, apex and exit and make sure I had good lines into the turn. I was focusing on delaying my entry into a turn and making my imaginary apex point the center track and not the yellow center line as I have done in the past.
I come up on a fairly blind, left hand, decreasing radius turn - exactly the kind of turn I might be too close to the yellow line at apex in the past. I set up wide to the right, delay entry well past where I would normally have turned in and flicked the bike into the entry. Just like Ken teaches in the book, I've got a little throttle on to steady the bike, I'm looking through and leaning into the turn. This is fun!
Until I came around the blind turn and saw the guy on the bicycle in the other lane... He was fine - he was just a guy on a bike coming through the turn going the opposite way. But my brain told me there was going to be a problem very soon.
Sure enough, coming around the bicycle at the exact same time as I hit the turn's apex was an impatient cager who was not only passing the bicycle - he was doing it with *both* of his left side wheels well in *my* lane. He was so far over, the center yellow line was under his steering wheel.
Before Ken's book, I might have ended up as a smear on his windshield. I certainly would have panicked and maybe grabbed too much brake and headed off into the ditch.
But I firmly believe that, because I had a cornering plan, because I was thinking about the ride, because I was actively practicing technique - because I was in The Zone - the car slipped by me with no drama from me other than a softly muttered, "*****..." in my helmet.
I hadn't even let off the throttle....
I accelerated out of the turn and went on my merry way knowing I had dodged yet another bullet but also knowing that this time, I did it with grace and ease.
So - thank you Ken Condon!
